Birth With Dignity, Joy and Peace of Mind

 

Birth is a rite of passage. 

It will change your life forever… if you let it.

 

YOU ALREADY KNOW

The knowledge of how to give birth resides within you. It is not in textbooks. You can't learn it from videotapes or patterned breathing exercises. It is not about the stages of labor or centimeters of cervical dilation. It is instinctive behavior that is separate from the intellect. This precious knowledge of birth has been passed down through the ages from mother to child, generation to generation, embedded in the genetic code and carried through the continuum of consciousness. The goal of this class is to help you access the part of yourself that holds this wisdom. Discover your connection with all your ancestors and other expectant and birthing parents.

FIND YOUR DEEPEST QUESTION

Each of us has a deep, personal, compelling question about birth or parenthood. Together we will explore and refine your question. The answer to your question is uncovered by your inner work and then manifested in your behavior.

THERE IS NO SYLLABUS

Each class has its own particular flavor seasoned by the needs of the students. While the instructor has a basic plan and a bag of tools, student's questions and concerns actually dictate the direction of the class.

BIRTH ART

We use art materials to bring life to the powerful images that emerge from within. These images are the doorway to understanding our own truths about pregnancy, birth and parenthood - a tool for self-exploration. No prior art experience is necessary. This class is perfect for people who can't draw.

PAIN-COPING PRACTICE

Together we will explore pain-coping mindsets that will give you the opportunity to test and compare which coping tools work best for you. You will take the ones that work best for you and incorporate them into a daily practice. Women birth as they live.

EMBRACE WHATEVER HAPPENS

By grace, some women get to birth normally. Some don't. In this class you will have the opportunity to learn how to give birth with heart, in awareness, in the best way you can regardless of the events or outcome.

STRENGTHEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP

In this class women and their birth companions find their own best ways to work together in labor and beyond. They strengthen their bonds. Class experiences provide the catalyst for couples to explore their relationships more deeply as they prepare to be born together as parents.

CONNECT WITH OTHERS

You're not the only one or the first one who is expecting a child. Pregnancy, birth, and the welcoming of new family members are rites of passage. They are family and community experiences. Humans weren't meant to gestate and raise their children in isolation. To encourage intimacy, class sizes are small. Friendships begun in this class may last a lifetime.

WHAT TO BRING TO CLASS

Bring yourself, your awareness, your fears, your questions, and your hopes. Bring your willingness to be your own teacher.

WHAT TO BRING TO YOUR BIRTH

Bring great faith in something beyond your body. Bring great doubt to strengthen your faith. Bring great determination to do what needs to be done to birth in awareness.

 

 

 

Birth Is…

· Anxiety provoking

· Needlessly painful

· Scary and dangerous

· Too hard for the body to handle

· Uncontrollable

· Shameful

 

 

Birth Can Be…

· Calming, centering, grounding

· Meaningful and transformative

· Safe and trustworthy

· Empowering

· A beautiful mystery

· Joyful and celebratory

 

 

 

· to trust your body's innate power to give birth successfully

· the physiology of birth

· breastfeeding information and resources

· pain-coping techniques

· information about complications and medical interventions

· your birth values (the kind of birth you want)

 

"Childbirth preparation classes still emphasize lectures that are easier to structure than experiential sessions where couples explore their thoughts and emotions.... Most childbirth educators present structured techniques to guide expectant parents toward a particular form of behavior during labor. The appeal of any given method of birth is that the prescriptions and formulas appear to make the birth experience predictable and manageable. The promise of control resonates with a woman's fear and anxiety about birth and falsely suggests that her mind and body function as separate entities."

-Elizabeth Noble, Childbirth With Insight